Which Tenancies Are Exempt From Colorado's For-Cause Renewal Law

Before checking whether a non-renewal reason qualifies under HB24-1098, it’s worth checking something more basic: whether the law applies to this tenancy at all. Several categories fall outside it entirely.

Tenancies under 12 months

A tenant who hasn’t yet reached 12 months in the unit isn’t covered by the for-cause requirement. A short-term or new tenancy can generally be non-renewed without a qualifying reason under this specific law — though other notice requirements can still apply.

Owner-occupied or owner-adjacent single-family homes, duplexes, and triplexes

If the owner lives in one of the units — a duplex or triplex where the owner occupies a unit, or a comparable owner-adjacent single-family arrangement — the property generally falls outside the for-cause requirement. This exemption is specifically about the owner’s own residence being part of the property, not about small-scale ownership generally.

Short-term rentals

Rentals of less than 30 consecutive days fall outside the residential for-cause framework entirely — this exemption is about the nature of the tenancy (short-term), not the number of units owned.

Mobile-home lots

Mobile-home lot tenancies are governed by a separate statutory framework and are exempt from this particular requirement.

Employer-provided housing

Housing provided as part of employment falls outside the for-cause requirement.

Unauthorized or unknown occupants

Someone occupying a unit without being a party to the lease and unknown to the landlord isn’t a tenant this law protects in the same way.

Why this matters before you check the “6 reasons”

If a tenancy falls into one of these categories, a landlord doesn’t need to fit the non-renewal into one of the six qualifying no-fault reasons — see The 6 No-Fault Reasons Colorado Landlords Can Still Use to Not Renew for that side of it. But the reverse mistake is just as common: assuming an exemption applies (because the property is small, or the landlord is a single owner) when it actually doesn’t. Owning only one or two rental units doesn’t itself create an exemption — it has to fit one of the specific categories above, most commonly the owner-occupied duplex/triplex exemption.

What to check in your own situation

• Does the tenant’s time in the unit exceed 12 months?
• Does the owner (or a qualifying family arrangement) actually occupy part of the property, for a duplex/triplex exemption to apply?
• Is the rental genuinely short-term (under 30 consecutive days), or does the lease structure just call it that?

The bottom line

Getting the exemption question right matters just as much as getting the qualifying-reason question right — claiming an exemption that doesn’t actually apply leaves a non-renewal exposed the same way a made-up reason would. A Renewal Compliance Check reviews the tenancy against both questions before a notice goes out.

LeaseCheck for Landlords is an educational lease-compliance screening tool. It is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Colorado rental laws change; confirm specifics for your situation with a licensed attorney.